Tangled!

The Snuggly Duckling was chaos.

Tables overturned, mugs rolled across the floor, and the air was thick with the scent of spilled ale and roasted meat. Rapunzel's heart pounded as she ducked under a flying tankard, her fingers still clenched tightly around the frying pan.

Eugene, pressed against the bar, gave her a quick grin. "So… this is going great."

She shot him a glare. "Great?! They're trying to kill us!"

Eugene shrugged. "Eh. More like slightly maim. Maybe break a few ribs."

Rapunzel let out a frustrated huff. "That's not better!"

Just then, a giant, bearded man, easily twice Eugene's size, loomed over them, cracking his knuckles. His eyes gleamed with something between amusement and menace.

"Well, well," he rumbled. "Flynn Rider, gracing us with his presence again."

Eugene cleared his throat. "Ah, yes. It's been a while, hasn't it, good ol'—" He hesitated. "—uh, buddy?"

The man raised an unimpressed eyebrow.

Eugene coughed. "Alright, look, let's not do anything crazy. I'm sure we can talk this out like civilized—"

Before he could finish, the giant grabbed him by the front of his shirt and hoisted him into the air.

"Okay! Or not," Eugene gasped. "That works too!"

Rapunzel took a step forward, her grip tightening on her frying pan. "Put him down!"

The man turned to her, clearly sizing her up. There was something unreadable in his expression.

Then, in a deep, gruff voice, he said, "Aren't you a little… soft for a life of crime?"

The other ruffians snickered, surrounding her. One twirled a dagger. Another popped his knuckles.

Rapunzel swallowed. She knew she didn't belong here, she was in a tavern full of criminals, cutthroats, and thieves.

But something inside her wouldn't back down.

She lifted her chin. "I'm not a criminal," she said firmly.

The giant tilted his head. "Then what are you doing with Flynn Rider?"

Eugene, still dangling midair, muttered, "Yeah, Rapunzel, I'd love to know the answer to that myself."

Rapunzel hesitated.

Why was she here? Why had she left the tower, defied Mother Gothel, and run off into the unknown?

Then she remembered.

The lanterns.

Her dream.

She squared her shoulders and looked the giant straight in the eye. "I have a dream," she said softly.

The room fell silent.

The ruffians all exchanged glances. Then, after a long pause, the giant laughed, a deep, rumbling sound.

"A dream?" he repeated, setting Eugene down with a thud. "That's rich."

The other men chuckled, shaking their heads.

Rapunzel's face burned. "It's not funny!" she insisted.

The giant smirked. "Oh yeah? What kind of dream does a girl like you have?"

Rapunzel took a deep breath.

And then, she told them.

"I've spent my whole life in a tower," she said, her voice steady. "And every year, on my birthday, I see lights rise into the sky. I don't know why, or what they are, but I know they mean something. And I'm going to see them. For real."

A heavy silence followed.

Then, someone in the back murmured, "Huh."

Another ruffian rubbed his chin. "That actually sounds kinda nice."

The giant frowned, deep in thought.

Rapunzel took a hesitant step forward. "Do you… have dreams?"

The men exchanged uncertain glances. A few shifted uncomfortably.

Then, slowly, a burly man with an eyepatch cleared his throat. "Well," he muttered. "I always wanted to be a concert pianist."

Another ruffian spoke up, gruffly, "I like knitting."

A long-haired man sighed wistfully. "I brew strawberry ale in my spare time."

One by one, they all began murmuring their dreams.

A swordsman who longed to be an interior designer.

A thug who wanted to write poetry.

A grizzled warrior who loved ballet.

Rapunzel's eyes widened. She had expected anger, maybe ridicule. Not this.

Then the giant cleared his throat.

"Well, if we're being honest…" He hesitated, looking almost embarrassed.

Then he declared, "I'd like to be… a concert singer."

Gasps.

Rapunzel's lips parted in surprise.

The ruffians all turned, staring at their leader as if he'd just admitted to being a fairy princess.

Eugene muttered under his breath, "Oh, this I gotta see."

The giant rubbed his neck. "I mean, I could have been good," he grumbled. "Had some training. Voice like honey. But, you know…" He gestured vaguely at the tavern. "Life."

Rapunzel's heart swelled.

With a soft smile, she stepped forward. "Would you sing something?"

The giant hesitated.

Then, after a deep breath, he sang.

His deep, rumbling voice filled the tavern, not rough or untrained, but smooth, resonant, and unexpectedly beautiful. The room stilled, the atmosphere shifting.

Then, one by one, the ruffians joined in.

A song not of battle cries or drunken shouts, but of dreams, wild, impossible, yet still worth having.

Rapunzel's chest tightened.

Because, for the first time in her life, she wasn't alone in dreaming.

And maybe, just maybe, she never had been.